Chapter 8 "Escape"
Kyle and I drove for over an hour, combing the streets of the Bowery. When we found the building I was shaking so hard I couldn’t speak. “Is that it? Is that the building, Ms Blue… Jada? Are you alright?” Tears rolled down my cheeks. The address was 186 Amber St. I didn’t dream it, and I wasn’t crazy. It was real. Kyle held my hand and I gave him a shaky smile. “Yes, that’s the house.”
Kyle drove around the block and parked on a nearby side street, about four hundred feet away. “Now what do we do?” I asked. “Well, It’s going to be dark soon.” Said Kyle. “For right now, let’s just keep and eye on the house and see if anything happens...” I was happy to sit there and just stare at the building. I was too shaken to do much else, so I nodded my head in agreement.
After about twenty minutes of ‘people watching’, a woman drew my attention. She would have stood out anywhere, but here, in this broken down part of the city, she seemed like a puzzle piece that belonged to a completely different puzzle. She was trim and about fifty, in a neat grey business jacket and matching grey skirt. Her blond hair was artfully knotted into a French twist and the bright red bag on her arm perfectly matched the bright red of her high heeled shoes.
“Kyle, are you seeing this?” I asked, making a subtle gesturing in the blond woman’s direction. “Yeah, I’ve been tracking her since she got out of the passenger side of a Lincoln. Nobody, in a car like that, comes down here without a reason.”
I craned my neck, “What Lincoln? I don’t see a car?” “It dropped her off a little way up the street and took off.” He explained. We watched the woman walk toward our building, her high heels clicking on the broken sidewalk. She stopped just outside the door and pulled a cigarette from her bag. Adjusting her horn rimmed glasses, she tapped the cigarette on the back of her hand in a smooth gesture that came from practiced repetition.
Almost in slow motion, the blond put the cigarette between her red painted lips and paused. As if on cue, the door to 186 Amber St opened and a large man with short cropped black hair came out onto the stoop. Briskly, he stepped down the stairs to the woman waiting on cracked sidewalk below, pulling out a lighter to hold for her cigarette. The blond breathed in and twin grey streams of smoke flooded from her nose, like a dragon.
The large man held a hand out to her, which she ignored and then he turned to follow her as her red high heels clicked up the stairs and into the building. It was just about then that the street lights, (or least the ones that weren't broken), popped on. Kyle looked at me in the fading light. “I’m going in.” He said quietly. I shook my head. “No your not! What do you mean, you're going in? Are you crazy?” “Not any more then you are.” He grinned.
“Kyle!” I hissed. “Don’t be a fool! You don’t know what’s in there.” “Yes I do, kidnapped kids.” He stated with conviction. “Kyle, I'm glad you believe in me, but what if they aren’t there anymore? What if somebody moved them? What if… there are bad guys... With guns? We need to call the cops! We need to have them check things out. That’s 'their' job, not ours!”
“Ok, try it.” He shrugged. “Let me have a dress rehearsal. I want to hear how you are going to explain this to the cops so that they don’t come down here, just to take you back to the hospital. Because, right now, we don't even have probably cause...” I opened my mouth and quickly shut it again. I couldn't admit it out loud, but in my heart I knew he was right.
“You don’t even have a way to protect yourself!” I said, defeated. Kyle thought for a moment and reached across me and opened the glove box. He pulled out a small black object and pushed a little button on the side. It snapped and crackled to life making a horrible sound in the confines of the van. “What the hell!” I gasped. “A stun gun" He grinned. "Sherry, a woman I used to work with, gave it to me a while ago. I almost forgot I had it."
There was no talking him out of it. He made sure both our cell phones were fully charged before he stepped out of the van. “If I don’t come back, just call this number.” He said, handing me a card. I read the card out loud. “Detective Thomas Stanton… Who the hell is that?” I snapped, unhappy with the whole situation. "Stanton is the partner of that detective you met earlier today, just not as much of a jerk.” "Well, that would help." I said, rereading the card..
Kyle slipped away, then. He walked up the street and then double backed towards the building. The sun had almost set. He used the shadows as camouflage, before disappearing behind the house.
I only waited a minute after Kyle was out of site, before I decided I had to call the number on the card. Even if the missing children weren’t found, and I was sent back to the hospital, it was better than having Kyle caught and hurt or worse.
“Hello, this is Detective Thomas Stanton, can I help you?” “Hello Detective Stanton, you don’t know me, but my name is Jada Blue.” “Ms Blue! We just got in a report that you're missing! Where are you?” I could hear another voice in the background and recognised it instantly as Detective Ivy. There was a muffled sound as if he put a hand over the receiver, but I could still hear Stanton saying to his partner. “I’ll handle this…” He came back to the phone, “Ms. Blue, a lot of people are worried about you. Tell me where you are and I will make sure someone comes to pick you up.”
I looked up at the building to see if there were any signs of Kyle and let out a little shriek. The big man, the one that had come outside earlier, was standing in the middle of the road. “Ms. Blue, Ms. Blue, what’s wrong? Talk to me!” Said Detective Stanton.
There was some static and crunching noises from the phone and then Jack Ivy’s familiar deep voice poured out of the receiver. “Jada, what the hell is going on! Where are you?” “Jack! I'm outside the red brick building, the one from my dream. We found it! Kyle brought me here.” “He did what!” Roared Ivy. “Jack, shut up and listen! Kyle is in the building and there is a man standing in the road in front of the building. He's looking in my direction!”
Ivy swore under his breath. “Jada, tell me everything you can about where you are.” “I’m in a white van, parked on a side street. The red brick building is on 186 Amber St!” “One eighty six Amber!”, Jack shouted to his partner. "What is the 'guy', doing?" I shrugged, "He's in the middle of the road standing about 400 feet away. I don't think he can see me, but he's looking right at the van."
Just as I said that, the man took a step forward. “Oh my God! I think he's moving toward the van!” "Jada, I'm coming! Is there anywhere you can hide?” I looked around. “I think I can climb into the back…” “Ok, I want you to lock the doors and climb into the back of the van!” shouted Ivy. "Once you get there, keep your head down and don't move! We're on our way!"
A second man left the house and joined the first man in the street. At seeing both men look in my direction, I panicked! Dropping the phone, I dove into the back of the van, just barely avoiding a collision with my wheelchair. The van had an old carpet covering the floor which made my awkward landing a little less painful.
After a minute, their voices still seemed distant, so I took a chance and lifted up to look out the windshield. The first man was talking to the new guy. They seemed to be arguing. The first guy waved a hand in my direction and I ducked back down. There's too much light, I thought. If the men come over and looked into the van they would most certainly see me. The shadows were just not deep enough to hide in.
My head bumped a latch and I realised that the van had a side panel door. It was unlocked. I frantically looked at the other two doors. Their push buttons stood at attention. Shit! I didn't lock them when I had the chance and now I couldn't reach them! I looked at the door and got an idea.
Gently, quietly, I pulled on the handle of the side panel door. Gravity did the rest and it slowly rolled open. Outside the door was a grassy patch of dirt that lay between the sidewalk and the curb. It would have to do. I crawled out onto the grass, dragging my usless legs behind me. I was lucky that the panel door faced away from the men, making it less likely to be seen.
Outside the van, I could hear them better. One of the voices had a thick, Russian accent. The other sounded like a native to the Bowery. “I tell you, this van has been here all day. I do not like it. It is very suspicious.” “Ivan, you watch too many friggin movies. It’s probably just someone that lives here in the neighborhood.” “Nyet, Alfredo! I know all cars in this neighborhood. I keep good track!” “I keep good track.” Mimiced Alfredo in a fake Russian accent. "Alright, let's go check it out!"
Heavy footsteps began to walk towards me. As soundlessly as possible, I rolled myself off the curb, onto the street and wriggled under the van. My heart was beating like a caged animal, but it was my breathing that was going to give me away. I concentrated on slowing everything down. The booted feet came to a stop, inches from my head, as the two men peered into the van windows.
“Hey, is that a wheelchair?” "Da..." Said the Russian. “You don’t see a security light or a car alarm anywhere , do ya Ivan?” “Alfredo, 'vhat do you think you are doing?” “Hey, wheelchairs don’t grow on trees ya know. I can make some cake with that!”
“Ve are already in trouble with the Nanny, because of you! Do not do anything else that is foolish!” “I’m in trouble! Your the one who kept the kid.” Said Alfredo. “My job, only, was to keep the children till the Nanny arrived.” Said Ivan angrily. “It was you who was supposed to get the right ones.” “Yeah, whatever. The contract was for three and I got three. So what if one of them wasn’t a Wetback. Their all Mexican, ain't they?” Said Alfonso. “Now, help me get this chair!”
A boot moved forward as one of them stepped in to open the door. It kicked my arm, hard! I drew in a sharp breath, trying not to scream, but it was enough. “Did you hear that?” Said Ivan’s thick voice. “Hear what? Stop slackin and help me get this chair!” “Nyet, you fool! Listen!” Everything became deathly quiet. Suddenly there was a face, peering directly into mine.
"Hello, pet!" Said an ugly bald headed man with a missing tooth. And what do we have here?" I shrieked and started to drag myself in the other direction. A hand shot out and I watched in horror as it grabbed my ankle. If it had been my wrist or hand, maybe I could have squirmed away, but it was my dead leg and it offered no resistance.
I could see the moon as both men began to pull and yank me from my hiding spot. “Help!” I screammed, grasping at whatever bar or wire or exposed underbelly thing that the van could offer to help delay the inevitable. “Help me!” I shouted again! “Ain't no one gonna help you around here, love!” Said the bald, Alfonso.
Loosing my grip on the greasy bits I was clinging to from under the van, I felt the gravel dig into my hips and legs as they finally started to drag me out. At first that thought skittered by... and then I came back to it... I could feel the gravel against my legs? There was feeling in my legs?
"Will ya look at this, Ivan. Our little duck is wearing gold sandals. I can't wait to see the rest of her. If these legs are any sign, she's gonna be a ripe beauty!"
Calmness washed over me. All my fear drifted away, as if it were a tangible thing that I didn't need anymore. The soft fabric of my pyjamas were replaced by the firmness of leather and in my hand was the feel cold obsidian... "Brother…” Whispered a voice in my ear.. “It is time for you to awaken…”
And then… everything went dark.
Kyle drove around the block and parked on a nearby side street, about four hundred feet away. “Now what do we do?” I asked. “Well, It’s going to be dark soon.” Said Kyle. “For right now, let’s just keep and eye on the house and see if anything happens...” I was happy to sit there and just stare at the building. I was too shaken to do much else, so I nodded my head in agreement.
After about twenty minutes of ‘people watching’, a woman drew my attention. She would have stood out anywhere, but here, in this broken down part of the city, she seemed like a puzzle piece that belonged to a completely different puzzle. She was trim and about fifty, in a neat grey business jacket and matching grey skirt. Her blond hair was artfully knotted into a French twist and the bright red bag on her arm perfectly matched the bright red of her high heeled shoes.
“Kyle, are you seeing this?” I asked, making a subtle gesturing in the blond woman’s direction. “Yeah, I’ve been tracking her since she got out of the passenger side of a Lincoln. Nobody, in a car like that, comes down here without a reason.”
I craned my neck, “What Lincoln? I don’t see a car?” “It dropped her off a little way up the street and took off.” He explained. We watched the woman walk toward our building, her high heels clicking on the broken sidewalk. She stopped just outside the door and pulled a cigarette from her bag. Adjusting her horn rimmed glasses, she tapped the cigarette on the back of her hand in a smooth gesture that came from practiced repetition.
Almost in slow motion, the blond put the cigarette between her red painted lips and paused. As if on cue, the door to 186 Amber St opened and a large man with short cropped black hair came out onto the stoop. Briskly, he stepped down the stairs to the woman waiting on cracked sidewalk below, pulling out a lighter to hold for her cigarette. The blond breathed in and twin grey streams of smoke flooded from her nose, like a dragon.
The large man held a hand out to her, which she ignored and then he turned to follow her as her red high heels clicked up the stairs and into the building. It was just about then that the street lights, (or least the ones that weren't broken), popped on. Kyle looked at me in the fading light. “I’m going in.” He said quietly. I shook my head. “No your not! What do you mean, you're going in? Are you crazy?” “Not any more then you are.” He grinned.
“Kyle!” I hissed. “Don’t be a fool! You don’t know what’s in there.” “Yes I do, kidnapped kids.” He stated with conviction. “Kyle, I'm glad you believe in me, but what if they aren’t there anymore? What if somebody moved them? What if… there are bad guys... With guns? We need to call the cops! We need to have them check things out. That’s 'their' job, not ours!”
“Ok, try it.” He shrugged. “Let me have a dress rehearsal. I want to hear how you are going to explain this to the cops so that they don’t come down here, just to take you back to the hospital. Because, right now, we don't even have probably cause...” I opened my mouth and quickly shut it again. I couldn't admit it out loud, but in my heart I knew he was right.
“You don’t even have a way to protect yourself!” I said, defeated. Kyle thought for a moment and reached across me and opened the glove box. He pulled out a small black object and pushed a little button on the side. It snapped and crackled to life making a horrible sound in the confines of the van. “What the hell!” I gasped. “A stun gun" He grinned. "Sherry, a woman I used to work with, gave it to me a while ago. I almost forgot I had it."
There was no talking him out of it. He made sure both our cell phones were fully charged before he stepped out of the van. “If I don’t come back, just call this number.” He said, handing me a card. I read the card out loud. “Detective Thomas Stanton… Who the hell is that?” I snapped, unhappy with the whole situation. "Stanton is the partner of that detective you met earlier today, just not as much of a jerk.” "Well, that would help." I said, rereading the card..
Kyle slipped away, then. He walked up the street and then double backed towards the building. The sun had almost set. He used the shadows as camouflage, before disappearing behind the house.
I only waited a minute after Kyle was out of site, before I decided I had to call the number on the card. Even if the missing children weren’t found, and I was sent back to the hospital, it was better than having Kyle caught and hurt or worse.
“Hello, this is Detective Thomas Stanton, can I help you?” “Hello Detective Stanton, you don’t know me, but my name is Jada Blue.” “Ms Blue! We just got in a report that you're missing! Where are you?” I could hear another voice in the background and recognised it instantly as Detective Ivy. There was a muffled sound as if he put a hand over the receiver, but I could still hear Stanton saying to his partner. “I’ll handle this…” He came back to the phone, “Ms. Blue, a lot of people are worried about you. Tell me where you are and I will make sure someone comes to pick you up.”
I looked up at the building to see if there were any signs of Kyle and let out a little shriek. The big man, the one that had come outside earlier, was standing in the middle of the road. “Ms. Blue, Ms. Blue, what’s wrong? Talk to me!” Said Detective Stanton.
There was some static and crunching noises from the phone and then Jack Ivy’s familiar deep voice poured out of the receiver. “Jada, what the hell is going on! Where are you?” “Jack! I'm outside the red brick building, the one from my dream. We found it! Kyle brought me here.” “He did what!” Roared Ivy. “Jack, shut up and listen! Kyle is in the building and there is a man standing in the road in front of the building. He's looking in my direction!”
Ivy swore under his breath. “Jada, tell me everything you can about where you are.” “I’m in a white van, parked on a side street. The red brick building is on 186 Amber St!” “One eighty six Amber!”, Jack shouted to his partner. "What is the 'guy', doing?" I shrugged, "He's in the middle of the road standing about 400 feet away. I don't think he can see me, but he's looking right at the van."
Just as I said that, the man took a step forward. “Oh my God! I think he's moving toward the van!” "Jada, I'm coming! Is there anywhere you can hide?” I looked around. “I think I can climb into the back…” “Ok, I want you to lock the doors and climb into the back of the van!” shouted Ivy. "Once you get there, keep your head down and don't move! We're on our way!"
A second man left the house and joined the first man in the street. At seeing both men look in my direction, I panicked! Dropping the phone, I dove into the back of the van, just barely avoiding a collision with my wheelchair. The van had an old carpet covering the floor which made my awkward landing a little less painful.
After a minute, their voices still seemed distant, so I took a chance and lifted up to look out the windshield. The first man was talking to the new guy. They seemed to be arguing. The first guy waved a hand in my direction and I ducked back down. There's too much light, I thought. If the men come over and looked into the van they would most certainly see me. The shadows were just not deep enough to hide in.
My head bumped a latch and I realised that the van had a side panel door. It was unlocked. I frantically looked at the other two doors. Their push buttons stood at attention. Shit! I didn't lock them when I had the chance and now I couldn't reach them! I looked at the door and got an idea.
Gently, quietly, I pulled on the handle of the side panel door. Gravity did the rest and it slowly rolled open. Outside the door was a grassy patch of dirt that lay between the sidewalk and the curb. It would have to do. I crawled out onto the grass, dragging my usless legs behind me. I was lucky that the panel door faced away from the men, making it less likely to be seen.
Outside the van, I could hear them better. One of the voices had a thick, Russian accent. The other sounded like a native to the Bowery. “I tell you, this van has been here all day. I do not like it. It is very suspicious.” “Ivan, you watch too many friggin movies. It’s probably just someone that lives here in the neighborhood.” “Nyet, Alfredo! I know all cars in this neighborhood. I keep good track!” “I keep good track.” Mimiced Alfredo in a fake Russian accent. "Alright, let's go check it out!"
Heavy footsteps began to walk towards me. As soundlessly as possible, I rolled myself off the curb, onto the street and wriggled under the van. My heart was beating like a caged animal, but it was my breathing that was going to give me away. I concentrated on slowing everything down. The booted feet came to a stop, inches from my head, as the two men peered into the van windows.
“Hey, is that a wheelchair?” "Da..." Said the Russian. “You don’t see a security light or a car alarm anywhere , do ya Ivan?” “Alfredo, 'vhat do you think you are doing?” “Hey, wheelchairs don’t grow on trees ya know. I can make some cake with that!”
“Ve are already in trouble with the Nanny, because of you! Do not do anything else that is foolish!” “I’m in trouble! Your the one who kept the kid.” Said Alfredo. “My job, only, was to keep the children till the Nanny arrived.” Said Ivan angrily. “It was you who was supposed to get the right ones.” “Yeah, whatever. The contract was for three and I got three. So what if one of them wasn’t a Wetback. Their all Mexican, ain't they?” Said Alfonso. “Now, help me get this chair!”
A boot moved forward as one of them stepped in to open the door. It kicked my arm, hard! I drew in a sharp breath, trying not to scream, but it was enough. “Did you hear that?” Said Ivan’s thick voice. “Hear what? Stop slackin and help me get this chair!” “Nyet, you fool! Listen!” Everything became deathly quiet. Suddenly there was a face, peering directly into mine.
"Hello, pet!" Said an ugly bald headed man with a missing tooth. And what do we have here?" I shrieked and started to drag myself in the other direction. A hand shot out and I watched in horror as it grabbed my ankle. If it had been my wrist or hand, maybe I could have squirmed away, but it was my dead leg and it offered no resistance.
I could see the moon as both men began to pull and yank me from my hiding spot. “Help!” I screammed, grasping at whatever bar or wire or exposed underbelly thing that the van could offer to help delay the inevitable. “Help me!” I shouted again! “Ain't no one gonna help you around here, love!” Said the bald, Alfonso.
Loosing my grip on the greasy bits I was clinging to from under the van, I felt the gravel dig into my hips and legs as they finally started to drag me out. At first that thought skittered by... and then I came back to it... I could feel the gravel against my legs? There was feeling in my legs?
"Will ya look at this, Ivan. Our little duck is wearing gold sandals. I can't wait to see the rest of her. If these legs are any sign, she's gonna be a ripe beauty!"
Calmness washed over me. All my fear drifted away, as if it were a tangible thing that I didn't need anymore. The soft fabric of my pyjamas were replaced by the firmness of leather and in my hand was the feel cold obsidian... "Brother…” Whispered a voice in my ear.. “It is time for you to awaken…”
And then… everything went dark.